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MacBook Pro mid 2012 Freezes then Restarts

I have a MacBook Pro mid 2012 that freezes then restarts. It always crashes when I open Spotify or Aperture and randomly crashes when using other applications. I have reset the NVRAM and the SMC. I have booted into safe mode and run `diskutil verifyVolume [drive name]` and no problems were found. The only error message I receive is this: "Your computer restarted because of a problem. Press a key or wait a few seconds to continue starting up." I attempted to run a Apple Hardware Test but received the an error that the EFI/Drivers/TestSupport.efi could not be loaded. The problem started on November 25th, 2020.


Any tips would be appreciated.


Here is the EtreCheckPro report:


MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Nov 27, 2020 9:27 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 4, 2020 9:22 AM

If I had to guess it looks like a GPU issue...

If Spotify and Aperature both call the discreet GPU "NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M' into play


You can force the mac to run on the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU in an effort to side step the problem GPU



Graphics and Video Support

  • Intel HD Graphics 4000
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory (15-inch 2.3GHz configuration) or NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory (15-inch 2.6GHz configuration) and automatic graphics switching
  • Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors

Thunderbolt digital video output


ref: https://support.apple.com/kb/sp694?locale=en_US




gfxCardStatus (https://gfx.io


See— Grant Bennet-Alder here

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250228290?answerId=250429718022#250429718022

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 4, 2020 9:22 AM in response to AsthmaticOak

If I had to guess it looks like a GPU issue...

If Spotify and Aperature both call the discreet GPU "NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M' into play


You can force the mac to run on the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU in an effort to side step the problem GPU



Graphics and Video Support

  • Intel HD Graphics 4000
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory (15-inch 2.3GHz configuration) or NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory (15-inch 2.6GHz configuration) and automatic graphics switching
  • Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors

Thunderbolt digital video output


ref: https://support.apple.com/kb/sp694?locale=en_US




gfxCardStatus (https://gfx.io


See— Grant Bennet-Alder here

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250228290?answerId=250429718022#250429718022

Dec 4, 2020 8:43 AM in response to AsthmaticOak

Here is the latest crash report. I also brought it into Apple but they were not able to diagnose anything. They did say that they couldn't get all of their tests to run. They thought it might be either my hard drive or RAM. Note that I am using a different hard drive now and I have swapped the ram around and even installed different ram, but I am still having problems.





Dec 4, 2020 1:08 PM in response to leroydouglas

Thank you! I had figured out that it was probably the GPU right before you posted, but the resources you provided were very helpful. Unfortunately, I can't seem to stop my MacBook Pro from switching back to to the dedicated graphics even though I have followed the steps to prevent it. I appreciate your response and the links you provided. It looks like it is time for me to get another Mac.

MacBook Pro mid 2012 Freezes then Restarts

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